Football for a Buck: The Crazy Rise and Crazier Demise of the USFL

One of the best book I’ve read.From the way it’s written (from a fans point of view) to all the effort it took to obtain the content in the book has to be admired.The way it allows the reader to immerse themselves into the book, hours in vanish in seconds.The level of appreciation Jeff Pearlman had in the subject matter showed in how it was written.I’d recommend this book to every fan of American football and everyone who likes to read. It’s a book I could read again and again, still getting the same level of enjoyment.

Best football book I have read. As with his previous book about the cowboys he manages to convey the emotions of the people involved.Trump comes across as a destructive egotist so was obviously preparing himself for the presidency. I used to own the $1 league which was good but this is much betterI just wish the world had john Bassett and not Trump as president.

Very enjoyable read. Well-researched and many amusing anecdotes. A shame it had to end, but the book was very much like the league itself, great fun from beginning to end!

Great reading for teen boys interested in American football

Really interesting book if you like Football - thoroughly recommend.

We all know Trump likes to hold a grudge and is very vindictive. His ongoing war on the NFL was clearly motivated by the demise of the USFL and the damages of $1 awarded to Trump in his antitrust suit against the NFL. A very interesting story.

Bought this book today off of a youtube comment that was praising it, and it was worth every penny. Basically spent the entire day reading this cover to cover. You ever get nostalgia for something you've never experienced? Well if you haven't, you will with this book. I was too young for this era of football. But from what I have read, it was glorious. Players going on cocaine binges right before the game. Guys beating the crap out of each other as unnecessary roughness didn't really exist in the USFL. Rick James shows up. There is a worldstar moment every time a plane is discussed. People that should be nowhere near a pro football roster try out; some actually make it in and play alongside future hall of famers. Solid guys who nobody the NFL even glanced at got their shot at glory. Truth is, everybody loves an underdog story. And the USFL was a league full of beer-chugging, coke-snorting, violently psychopathic underdogs.Another aspect I enjoyed was the business side of it. The owners were perhaps more colorful than the players. You've got your fraudsters, cheapskates, and check-bouncers (sometimes all three)-- along with the actually good owners that cared about their players, fans, and city. Ultimately running a football team is about people. Wooing and paying players (or not). Getting fans to show up (or not). Strategizing with the other owners on how to take the league forward (or not).The story-telling was superb. The anecdotes absurd and laugh out loud funny. The way the story unravels makes you feel like you were really there, and by the conclusion you are really invested in both the league and its players. You start to look at the modern day NFL and wish for a league that actually took risks and wasn't afraid to hide all of the crazy antics of it's coaches and players from the public.Please adapt this book into a series or a movie. I'm part of the 18-34 demographic that you blow your load over, Hollywood. I swear I will watch it. Of course the NFL would throw a tantrum about them being portrayed in a negative light, just rename them to some bs moniker that anyone with an IQ in the double digits would understand and call it a day. Then leave everything else about the league unchanged.

Excellent book, came on time and a good price

Like the author, I was a 10-year-old boy when the United States Football League launched in 1983. Growing up in New Jersey and having recently gotten the autograph of college phenom Herschel Walker, I’ll never forget the jarring sight of Walker in his New Jersey Generals uniform on the cover of Sports Illustrated. I was fired up for the USFL and spring football. The nicknames, the uniforms, the helmets. As an ESPN addict, I was all in.Alas, the USFL only lasted three seasons, but it has been reborn in Jeff Pearlman’s Football for a Buck. Some amazing stories you can hardly believe in here. Two of my favorites: legendary coach George Allen dressing up two staffers as USFL Films crew members to tape the practice of his Week 1 foe and getting away with it (take that Bill Belichick) and the Michigan Panthers public address announcer with the results of an automobile raffle-ticket giveaway: “Tonight’s winner of the 1984 Dodge Charger is…oh, my God! It’s me!” The surreal story of the San Antonio Gunslingers is alone worth buying this book.In addition to a constellation of stars such as Walker, Steve Young, Jim Kelly, and Reggie White, there are some USFL cameos you wouldn’t expect: Villanova coach Jay Wright working ticket sales for the Philadelphia Stars, Christopher “Mad Dog” Russo doing postgame coverage for the Orlando Renegades, David Remnick as the Washington Post reporter forced to suffer through covering the Washington Federals. Learned from the book that the USFL almost inked deals with Lawrence Taylor, Cris Collinsworth, and Dan Fouts.One big lesson from the book—you didn’t want to be on the same flight as a USFL team. Lots of good air travel horror stories here from a brawl involving the Arizona Outlaws at 30,000 feet on a Continental Airlines flight, a baggage truck slamming into the engine of the Los Angeles Express plane, and a pilot who got lost en route from New York to Los Angeles.Oh, and I haven’t even gotten to Donald Trump yet and the story of how he brought about the league’s demise in his quest to get a National Football League team of his own. When Trump signed Doug Flutie to a hefty contract for his New Jersey Generals, he sent a letter to every other team asking them to pay for it. Sound familiar?It’s clear that Pearlman has done some incredible research, doing dozens upon dozens of interviews. Not just with some of the league’s key figures, but with cheerleaders and even the Gunslingers trainer. One of the best sports books I’ve ever read!

Great book. Detailed but easy to read. Jeff has a great style to his writing. If you’re looking for a book on the USFL, this is it!

Trump and a good story